1963 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1963 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1963 Big Ten Conference football season. In its fifth year under head coach Bump Elliott, Michigan compiled a 3–4–2 record (2–3–2 against conference opponents), tied for fifth place in the Big Ten, and outscored opponents by a combined total of 131 to 127.[1]
1963 Michigan Wolverines football | |
---|---|
Conference | Big Ten Conference |
1963 record | 3–4–2 (2–3–2 Big Ten) |
Head coach | Bump Elliott (5th season) |
MVP | Tom Keating |
Captain | Joe O'Donnell |
Home stadium | Michigan Stadium |
1963 Big Ten football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 3 Illinois $ | 5 | – | 1 | – | 1 | 8 | – | 1 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 9 Michigan State | 4 | – | 1 | – | 1 | 6 | – | 2 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ohio State | 4 | – | 1 | – | 1 | 5 | – | 3 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Purdue | 4 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northwestern | 3 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wisconsin | 3 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Michigan | 2 | – | 3 | – | 2 | 3 | – | 4 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Iowa | 2 | – | 3 | – | 1 | 3 | – | 3 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Minnesota | 2 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indiana | 1 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The highlight of the season was an upset victory over No. 2 Illinois led by Dick Butkus; the game was the only loss suffered by the 1963 Illinois team.[2]
Left guard Joe O'Donnell was the team captain and was selected by the Associated Press as a first-team guard on the 1963 All-Big Ten Conference football team.[3][4] Left tackle Tom Keating received the team's most valuable player award and was selected as a first-team All-Big Ten player by the United Press International.[3][5]
The team's statistical leaders included Bob Timberlake with 593 passing yards, Mel Anthony with 394 rushing yards and 30 points scored, and John Henderson with 330 receiving yards.[6]
Schedule
Date | Opponent | Site | Result | Attendance |
---|---|---|---|---|
September 28 | SMU* | W 27–16 | 63,659 | |
October 5 | No. 6 Navy* |
| L 13–26 | 55,877 |
October 12 | Michigan State |
| T 7–7 | 101,450 |
October 19 | Purdue |
| L 12–23 | 45,557 |
October 26 | at Minnesota | L 0–6 | 62,107 | |
November 2 | Northwestern |
| W 27–6 | 51,088 |
November 9 | at No. 2 Illinois | W 14–8 | 55,810 | |
November 16 | Iowa |
| T 21–21 | 46,582 |
November 30 | Ohio State |
| L 10–14 | 36,424 |
|
Statistical leaders
Michigan's individual statistical leaders for the 1963 season include those listed below.[6][11]
Rushing
Player | Attempts | Net yards | Yards per attempt | Touchdowns |
Mel Anthony | 103 | 394 | 3.8 | 5 |
Bob Timberlake | 98 | 228 | 2.3 | 1 |
Dick Rindfuss | 58 | 211 | 3.6 | 3 |
Passing
Player | Attempts | Completions | Interceptions | Comp % | Yards | Yds/Comp | TD |
Bob Timberlake | 98 | 47 | 4 | 48.0 | 593 | 12.6 | 3 |
Bob Chandler | 33 | 16 | 2 | 48.5 | 216 | 13.5 | 3 |
Forest Evashevski, Jr. | 23 | 12 | 3 | 52.2 | 154 | 12.8 | 1 |
Receiving
Player | Receptions | Yards | Yds/Recp | TD | Long |
John Henderson | 27 | 330 | 12.2 | 4 | 10 |
Craig Kirby | 13 | 166 | 12.8 | 0 | 24 |
Jim Conley | 6 | 114 | 19.0 | 1 | 33 |
Kickoff returns
Player | Returns | Yards | Yds/Return | TD | Long |
Jack Clancy | 9 | 221 | 24.6 | 0 | 33 |
Harvey Chapman | 2 | 62 | 31.0 | 0 | |
Dick Rindfuss | 4 | 56 | 14.0 | 0 | 23 |
Punt returns
Player | Returns | Yards | Yds/Return | TD | Long |
Jack Clancy | 10 | 105 | 10.5 | 0 | 15 |
Dick Rindfuss | 11 | 96 | 8.7 | 0 | 4 |
Richard Wells | 4 | 25 | 6.3 | 0 | |
Points scored
Player | Touchdowns | Field goals | Extra points | Points scored | |
Mel Anthony | 5 | 0 | 0 | 30 | |
John Henderson | 4 | 0 | 0 | 24 | |
Dick Rindfuss | 3 | 0 | 0 | 18 | |
Players
Starters
The starting lineup of the 1963 football team was made up of the following players:[3]
- Mel Anthony - started 3 games at fullback
- Tom Cecchini - started 4 games at center
- Jack Clancy - started 9 games at left halfback
- Jim Conley - started 7 games at left end
- Chuck Dehlin - started 2 games at fullback
- Richard Hahn - started 6 games at right guard
- John Henderson - started 3 games at right end
- John Houtman - started 1 game at right tackle
- Tom Keating - started 9 games at left tackle
- Craig Kirby - started 2 games at left end
- Bill Laskey - started 6 games at right end
- John Marcum - started 3 games at right guard
- Joe O'Donnell - started 9 games at left guard
- Brian Patchen - started 5 games at center
- Dick Rindfuss - started 9 games at right halfback
- Wayne Sparkman - started 4 games at fullback
- Bob Timberlake - started 9 games at quarterback
- Bill Yearby - started 8 games at right tackle
Other letter winners
Other players who received varsity letters for their participation on the 1963 football team are:[12]
- Dennis Alix, quarterback
- Robert Chandler, quarterback
- Harvey Chapman, Jr., halback
- William Dodd, halfback
- Forest Evashevski, Jr., quarterback
- Ben Farabee, end
- James Green, center
- Jeffrey Hoyne, end
- David Kovacevich, guard
- David Kurtz, guard
- Gerald Mader, tackle
- Thomas Pritchard, quarterback
- Richard Ries, guard
- John Rowser, halfback
- Charles Ruzicka, tackle
- Stephen Smith, end
- Richard Szymanski, center
- Richard Wells, halfback
- Paul Woodward, guard
Awards and honors
Coaching staff
- Head coach: Bump Elliott[3]
- Assistant coaches: Don Dufek, Dennis Fitzgerald, Henry Fonde, Jack Fouts, Bob Hollway, Jack Nelson[3]
- Trainer: Jim Hunt[3]
- Manager: Gustav Schulwitz[3]
References
- "1963 Michigan Wolverines Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
- Lyall Smith (November 10, 1963). "Michigan KOs Illinois, 14 to 8". Detroit Free Press – via Newspapers.com.
- "1963 Football Team". University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
- "Reilly Selected for Big Ten First Team" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. November 30, 1983. p. 4.
- Ed Sainsbury (November 29, 1963). "Butkus, Eller Near Unanimous Choices for Big Ten All Stars". The Daily Register (Harrisburg, Illinois). p. 9.
- "1963 Michigan Wolverines Statistics". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
- Bob Pille (September 29, 1963). "M Bowls Over SMU". Detroit Free Press. p. 1B, 2B – via Newspapers.com.
- Bob Pille (October 13, 1963). "Wolverines, MSU Tie One On, 7-7". Detroit Free Press. pp. 1D, 6D – via Newspapers.com.
- Lyall Smith (November 10, 1963). "Michigan KOs Illinois, 14 to 8". Detroit Free Press. p. 1D, 3D – via Newspapers.com.
- Jack Berry (December 1, 1963). "Buckeye Rally Trips M, 14-10". Detroit Free Press. pp. 1D, 3D – via Newspapers.com.
- "Michigan Football Statistic Archive Query Page". Mgoblue.com. University of Michigan. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved November 5, 2017.(statistics retrieved by entering "1963" in the box for "Games & Totals by Season" and then, at the next screen, choosing "Display Season Totals")
- "Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan Football Rosters (1963)". University of Michigan. Retrieved November 5, 2017.